The present invention relates to an apparatus for handling and particularly for handling flexible beverage bags.
Such an apparatus is e.g. known from U.S. patent specification No. 4,108,300. The known apparatus serves to handle cushion-shaped, non-standing bags that consist of two flat film pieces laid one upon the other and welded to each other all around their edges. The bags are first welded at three sides and are then passed in said state in suspended fashion through a filling and closing station in which the bags are filled and the fourth side is then sealed. The clamps used for the suspended transportation are then released and the bags just fall by gravitational force onto the second conveyor where they are further transported in a lying position. However, such a transfer from a suspended or upright transportation position into a horizontal or lying transportation position can at best be carried out with this type of bag because due to their cushion-like shape these bags will automatically assume the correct lying position on the conveyor.
Stand up bags consist of film pieces that are directly welded to one another at three sides only, i.e. the two side edges and the edges of the closing opening, while a self-standing bottom is inserted or formed between the two residual edges. Up to now these stand up bags have only been transported in an upright or standing position. Furthermore, for a transfer from the standing into a lying position, it is not possible to simply drop the bags, as due to their self-standing bottom these would either be deflected into the most different directions or would just be further conveyed in a standing position.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which permits a gentle and controlled transfer of bags from the upright into a lying position:
The present invention creates an apparatus with which, in particular, stand up bags can be reliably and correctly moved into an exactly defined lying transportation position. However, other bag shapes can also be handled with the apparatus of the invention, in particular in cases where a gentle treatment is required (e.g. because of sensitive contents) where the bag must not be dropped.